[ 333 ]

VTI. On certain Species of now or lately liuinq in tAe Society’s Menagerie. 33 P. L. SCLATER,M.A., P?t.D., F.R.S., Secretary to the Society.

Rend February 24th, 1870.

[PLATESXXVIII. to XXXIX.]

THEseries of Cervidae in the Society’s Menagerie has been considerably augmented of late years, particularly as regards the larger species of the Old World, which have been conveniently arranged in the new Deer-house recently erected in the eastern corner of the South Gardens. Several of these Deer are now or have been lately represented by examples of both sexes and of the young born in the Gardens; and amongst them are certain species which are very little known to science. Under these circumstances I propose to offer to the Society some notes upon these to accompany a set of illustrations of the rarer species which have been prepared from the living specimens. I must, however, premise that my notes relate principally to the history of‘ the intro- duction of these animals into the Society’s Gardens, and to the synonymy and distribu- tion of the species there exhibited. It is not possible to gather much exact information concerning the structure of animals from the examination of living specimens, except as regards one or two obvious external characters which may be noticed without close handling. ‘The species of Deer to which I hare thus to call the Society’s attention are niize in number, all belonging to the genus Cerws, as I should be disposed to consider it. They are:-

1. CERVUSDAVIDTANUS. (Plate XXVIII.) Eluphurus dawidianus, A. Milne-Edwards, Compt. Rend. 14 May, 1866; Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 5, v. p. 380; Nouv. Arch. d. Mus. ii. Bull. p. 27, pl. iv. (1866); Alcock, P. Z. S. 1868, pp. 210,530; David, ibid. p. 210; Swinhoe, ibid. p. 530; Sclater, ibid. p. 531, et P. Z.S. 1869, p. 468. This fine is one of the many zoological discoveries which are due to the researches of M. le P&reArmand David, Missionary of the Congregation of Lazarists at Pekin, an active correspondent of the Museum of Natural History of the Jardin des Plantes, and A Corresponding Member of this Society. M. David first made known the existence of this Deer in 1865, in a letter addressed to Professor Milne-Edwards, having become acquainted with it by looking over the wall of the Imperial Hunting-park, in which it is kept in a semidomestic state. This Park is situated about two miles south of Pekin, and is called the Nan-lad-tsze or “Soutl~ernMarsh”’. No European is “The Imperial hunting-ground, or Hae-tsze, as it is called, is three miles outside the south gate of the Chinese city; it is a tract of country enclosed by a wall forty miles long. The Emperors Kanghi and Keen- VOL. VII.-PART v. January, 1871. 22 334 MR. P. L. SCLATER ON CERTAIS SPECIES OF DEER allowed to enter it. It is stated to contain Deer of different species’, and herds of Antilope gutturosa, besides the Elaphures. M. David saw from the wall more than a hundred of the last-named animal, which he described as resembling a “ long-tailed Rein-deer with very large horns.” At that time he was unable, in spite of every effort, to get specimens of it, but, being acquainted with some of the Tartar soldiers who mounted guard in the park, subsequently succeeded in obtaining the examples upon which M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards founded his description of this remarkable animal. Shortly after this M. IIenri de Bellonet, Charg6 d’Affaires of the French Legation at Pekin, managed to procure a living pair of EUaphures from the Imperial Park, and kept them for nearly two years in a court near the Embassy in that city. Upon his return to Paris in the summer of 1867, M. de Bellonet, having heard of our applications to our correspondents at Pekin to obtain living examples of this animal, was kind enough to place this pair at the disposal of the Society upon our undertaking the expense of their removal to this country. This the Council willingly agreed to, and application was at once made to H.E. Sir Rutherford Alcock and our other correspondents at Pekin to make arrangements for their transport. Unfortunately, however, these animals died before this could be effected ; but the skin and skeleton of the male were carefully pre- served under Sir Rutherford Alcock’s directions and forwarded to the Society along with two pairs of the shed horns of the same animal. They were exhibited at our meeting on November 12, 1868, after which the skin was deposited in the British Museum and the skeleton and horns in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons 2. Meanwhile Sir Rutherford Alcock lost 110 time in making application to the Chinese authorities for other specimens, and, after interviews with Prince Kung and other high officials, ultimately succeeded in procuring several young pairs, one of which reached the Society’s Gardens in perfect health and condition on the 2nd of August last3. The illustration (Pl. XXVIII.) represents this pair of Elaphures shortly after their arrival. It will be observed that the male is growing his young horns. I will add a few remarks which occur to me on examination of these interesting animals. The general aspect of the Elaphure is much more like that of the true C’ervi than I had anticipated from the description and figure of 11. Milne-Edwards. The only two very noticeable points of distinction, besides tlie horns of the male, which are not at

_____~---~ ~ -- ~~ - . lung used often to hunt there. Severel Tillages are in the enclosure, which is given up to pasture ; herds of oxen and iorses, and flocks of sheep for the use of thc Court arc fed there : and great numbers of‘ deer are seen in all directions. It is simply an Imperial domain, and was uscd as a hunting-ground by the Court when public business did not permit a sojourn in the wild hunting-grounds of Tartary.”-LocrcHmT, in J. It. G. 8. xxxri. p. 148. a.riuthopyps, Ceruzcs ~iiuntcl~zr~ictts,and Ctrpeolua 2~~ytrytis,according to Nr. Swinhoe. This skeleton has since been beautifully mounted, and now stands in the centre-of the inner room of the Xuscnm. I believe it is still the only complete skeleton of this animal in Europe. See 1’. Z. S. 1569, p. 46s. LIVISG IN THE SOCIETY’S NENAGEHIE. 335

Fig. 1.

Antlers aiid skull of Surgeons.

Fig. 2.

Hr:d of young male Ctrurrs rktvidinntw, with the antlcrs.growing. 336 MR. P. L. SCL9TER ON CERTAIN SPECIES OF DEER present shown in our animals, are the rather larger, heavier legs, the longer and more expanding toes, and the long tail. The latter character, however, seems to me to have been somewhat exaggerated in M. Milne-Edwards's figures-the tail in our specimen not nearly reaching the hocks, and, though of somewhat different form, being really little, if any, longer' than that of the Fallow Deer and some of the American Deer (such as Ceruus virgA2innus). The muffle of Elaphurus, as M. Milne-Edwards has already Fig. 3. stated, is quite naked and moist, as in the true Cerui (see fig. 3). The lachrymal sinus is small, and the eye also remarkably small. The muzzle (fig. 2, p. 335) is terminated by a good many single straggling bristles, as in C. duuaucelli. 'l'he insides of the ears in this Deer are very closely filled with dense hairs. I cannot ascertain positively whether the usual gland on the outer side of the metatarsus is present or not in this Deer ; but it is certainly not very highly devcloped. On the whole I can find no character to take this species out of the genus Ceruus as I think it ought to be understood. The Elaphure is no doubt very distinct in the form of its horns from every other described species of the genus, and should be placed in a section by itself, just as RZCSCL,Axis, IIyeZaphus, and the numerous other (so-called) genera of some authors. Those who regard these subordinate groups as generic will likewise use Elaphurus as a genus. To me its nearest ally seems to be perhaps the Barasingha (C. duuaucelli), which has likewise a long muzzle terminated with out- standing hairs, and rather long expanding toes. Like the Barasingha the Elaphure is in all probability an inhabitant of marshes and wet grounds. M. Swinhoe informs me that the young C'eruus davidianus is spotted with white like other true Cervi at its birth, and retains the spotted dress about three months, when these markings gradually disappear.

2. CERVUS MARAL. (Plate XXIX.) Cervus elaphus, Pallas, Zoograph. Rosso.-As. i. p. 216 (partim) ? Maral, McNeill, P. Z. S. 1840, p. 11. Cervus maral, Ogilby, Report of Council of Z. S. 18-10, p. 22; Gray, Knowsley Menag. vol. i. tabb. 50 et 50 ; Sclater, Zool. Sketches, ii. pl. 12 j and List of Vert. ed. iv. p. 46. - wallichii (partim), Gray, Letterpress to ' Knowsley Menag.' vol. i. p. 60 ; Cat. of Ungulate Furcipeda, p. 197, et P. Z. S. 1852, p. 2.27; Sclater, Cat. of Vert. ed. 1, p. 10, ed. 2, 11. 14, ed. 3, p. 27 (partim) ; Wagner, Saugeth. Suppl. v. p. 356. On the lGth January, 1840, Sir John McNeil, a Corresponding Member of the In the mounted skeleton of this animal in the Royal College of Surgeons the caudal vertebrre are fifteen in iiumber, measuring altogether 16.5 in. in length. In the adjoining skeleton of Ceww ekaphus there are eleven caudal rertebm, measuring 10-25in. Thc height of the skclcton of C. r-lmidiarm.s above the shoulder is 4 feet ; that of theskelcton of C. eZc1p7tus 3 feet 8 inches. LIVING IN THE SOCIETY’S MENAGERIB. 337

Society, presented to the Menagerie two “new Deer from the Persian Mountains.” These were entered in the ‘‘ List of exhibited for the first time,” printed in the Council’s Report for that year, as the “Persian Deer, Cervus mural, 0gilby”- Mr. Ogilby, no doubt, having intended to describe them under that name, which, how- ever, he never appears to have done. These Deer were subsequently transferred to the collection of the late Earl of Derby, but, having been in bad condition, never recovered; and the last of them died in 1849’. In the collection of portraits of animals living in that collection, drawn by Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, and commonly known as the “Knowsley Menagerie,” are two pictures of this pair of Deer. Y1. XXXVJII. represents them both in winter dress, and P1. xxxlx. the male in that of summer. In the latter stage the spotting is very conspicuous. During the Crimean war a male of this Deer was captured in Circassia and “pre- sented to the French Admiral by the chief into whose possession it fell. A female. having been obtained at some other point on the coast of the Black Sea, the two animals were ultimately sent to the Earl of Ducie, who, after keeping them for three seasons at ’l’ortworth, most liberally presented them to this So~iety”~on the 13th of March, 1857. On the 23rd of August, 1868, the female produced a hind of the same sex; and nearly every year since that period this species of Deer has reproduced in the Society’s Gardens. as the subjoined list of the original pair and their descendants will show :-

List ojPersian Deer in the Society’s Gardens. a. Male...... Presented by the Earl of Duck ...... March 12, 1857.

6. Female...... 1, 9, ...... 71 7, c. Female...... Born in the Menagerie ...... July 9, 1857,

d. Female ...... ,, 7) ...... August 23, 1858.

e. Female ...... 77 ,, ...... July 24, 1860.

f. Female...... ,, 9, ...... August 19, 1860.

9. Female...... ,, 97 ...... June 19,1862.

1L. -- ...... , 79 ...... November 2, 1862. i. Nale...... 3, 1, ...... September 25,1863.

j. Nale...... ,, 7, ...... October 10,1863.

k. Yale., ...... ,, 9, ...... July 9,1865,

2. Yale...... ,, 97 ...... rlugust 1,1866.

rn. Yale...... ,, 99 ...... August 6, 1867. n. Female...... ,, 7, ...... September 19, 1868. The Society have at different times sold off their duplicate stock of this Deer to the King of’ Italy, the Jardin des Plantes of Paris, the Zoological Society of Hamburg. Sir Victor Brooke, and elsewhere ; but I am not aware that any other importation of this animal has taken place, nor do I believe that any of the Continental Museums coiltain specimens of it, unless from the stock disposed of as above mentioned.

6 Guide to the Gardens of the foological Society of London,’ by D. W. Mitchell. 1858, p. 48. Mitchell’s Garden Guide, 1. s. c. 338 AIR. P. L. SCLATER ON CERTAIPU' SPECIES OF DEER

Having stated thus much concerning the history of the introduction and propagation of this Deer, I must now say a few words concerning its proper specific name-a subject that has given me 110 little trouble. As I have already stated, the original examples of this species received from Sir John McNeil were regarded by Mr. Ogilby as new to science, and proposed to be called Cervus ntaral, after their Persian name. Under this name they are likewise figured in the plates of the ' Knowsley Menagerie.' But in the letterpress of the ' Knowsley Menagelie,' prepared by Dr. Gray, the " Persian Deer " is united with the Cashmirian Deer ( Cervus caslmteerianus) and called Cervus wnllichii. The same course is pursued in Dr. Gray's other catalogues, and has been generally followed by subsequent authors, until in l8GG I convinced myself that this view was erroneous, and proposed to restore the specific name mural to the present species. As I have never published the grounds for making this change I shall now endeavour to explain them, and to show, first, that the Persian and Cashmirim Deer are specifically different, and, secondly, that the term Cervus wnllicllii is not applicable to the former itnimal, whatever may be the case as regards the latter.

Side Licw of head of Ceructs iizora?. 'l'hat the Persian and Cashmirian Deer are of different species must, I think, be allowed by cwxy one who has examincd the examples of tliese two animals now living LIPING Ipu’ THE SOCIETT’S MENAGERIE. 339 in our Gardens. The Persian Deer is remarkable for its long, narrow, pointed head, whereas the Cashmir Deer has a short head like the Ked Deer, Cervus elaphus. A second very noticeable point of distinction is the colour of the upper surface of the tail, which in Cervirs mnral is pale brown or ferruginous, in Ceruzcs cashmeerianus is dark, very nearly black. The anal disk is also smaller in the latter animal and more darkly margined. Kow as to the term wnllichii. This name was established by Cuvier in 1825 (Oss. Foss. ed. 3, iv. p. 504), upon a drawing made by 31, Duvaucel from an animal living in 1822 in the Barrackpore Menagerie, which drawing was subsequently published by F. Cuvier in the ‘Histoire Naturelle des Mammifkres’ (pl. 356). We learn from Mr. Blyth (J. A. S. B. x. p, $45), who has carefully investigated General Hardwicke’s MSS. on this subject, that this animal was originally brought from Muktenauth, near Dewaligiri, to the east of the Gundhuk river, but beyond the snowy range’, about five weeks’ journey from the valley of Nepaul. The horns of this individual are still in the Museum of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta ; and Mr. Blyth had ‘‘ compared them care- fully with mature horns of both the Hungal” (i. e. Ceruus cashinirensis) ‘‘ and the Shoir” (i. e. Cervus a@&), and, “though it is impossible to pronounce with confidence, is inclined to refer them to the former.” But Dr. Jerdon, who has also examined into the question, is inclined to think that Cuvier’s figure represents Cervzis n$inis ; and if the loczlity whence the animal came has been correctly stated, I should think there can be little doubt that this latter view is correct. Whichever be the case, there can be no doubt that it is quite erroneous to apply the name wnllichii to the Caucasian species.

3. CERVUSCASHMEERIAKVS. (Plate XXX.) Cervus cashmeerianw, Falconer, MS. (1839) . -wallichii, Blyth, P. Z. S. 1840, p. 79. ‘( Stag,” Blyth, J. A. S. B. s. p. 717 (1841). “ Cervus cashmerensis, Falconer, MS.”, Gray, Osteol. Cat. B. hi. p. 65 (1847). -casperianus, Gray, ibid. p. 147 (1847). -wallichii, Gray, Letterpress to ‘Knowsley Menagerie,’ 5-01. i. p. 60; Cat. of Viigulata Fur- cipeda, i. p. 197; P. Z. s. 1852, p. 227. “ Shu, or’Tibetan Stag,” Cunningham, LadLk, p. 201 (1854). Gems eashmeriensis, Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 529. -wallichii, Gray, Cat. of Bones of Mamm. in Brit. Mus. 11. 268 (1862). -cashmirensis, Sclater, List of Vert. Z. S. L. p. 47 (1866). -zuallichii, Jerdon, Mammals of India, p. 250 (1867). -cashmeerianus, Falconer, Palaeont. Memoirs, i. p. 576 (1868). -wallichii, Kinloch, Game of Thibet and the North-west, p. 44 (1869). The first scientific traveller who appears to have recognized the existence of a large species of Ceruus, allied to our Cervus elaphzts, in Cashmeer was the late Dr. Hugh cf. Jerdon’s Mammals of India,’ p. 26. 340 MR. P. L. SCLATER ON CERTAIX SPECIES OF DEER

Falconer, who, during his expedition to Cashmeer and Little Thibet, obtained several specimens of the present species. Dr. Falconer made careful notes of this animal, designating it in his MS. Cervus cashmeerianus, but unfortunately neyer published these notes ; and it is only since his lamented decease that these and many other of his valuable contributions to science have been made known. Mr. G. T. Vigne, the well-known traveller, who was in Cashmeer at the same time as Dr. Falconer, seems to have fur- nished him with some sketches of this Deer, which are likewise published in the

‘ Paleontological Memoirs’ I. In 1840 Mr. Vigne seems to have shown a horn of the Cashmirian Deer to Mr. Blyth, who p7e a short account of it on July 28th of that year before this Society. Mr. Blyth suspects that it “ would prove to be the C. wallichii of Duvaucel, or a closely allied species, a description of which may be expected from Dr. Falconer.”

In 1841 Mr. Blvth, in his article on the “ True Stags or Elaphine form of Cervus,” published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (x. p. 736), again speaks of the “ Kashmir Stag ” (p. 747), and considers it “ very likely ” to be identical with the

“ Jerrael, Ceruzts wallichii. Duvaucel, Cervzts aflnis, Hodgson,” but understands that

“ Dr. Falconer considers them distinct,” and “ leaves the Kashmir species to be described by the latter eminent mturalist.” At the same time he takes the opportunity of giving two drawings’ of the antler in Mr. Vigne’s collection, which he had previously described in this Society’s ‘ Proceedings.’ In 1846 Dr. Falconer presented to the British Museum skulls of the male and female of his “ Cerwus cashmeerianus.” In the “ list of osteological specimens ” of that institu- tion, published in 1847, this name was niispririted “ cnshmerensis.’’ Dr. Falconer, as he once told me himself, endeavoured to have this mistake corrected, but was only successful in getting the miswritten term altered into the much worse form of casperinnus! (List of Ost. Spec. errata, p. 147). Both these MS. names are quoted in the subsequently published catalogue of “ Ungulata Furcipeda,” and other catalogues of Dr. Gray, where the Cashmir Deer is united to the Persian Deer, and called Cervus wctllichii. In Cunningham’s ‘ Ladak ’ (1854), a notice is given (p. 201) of the “ Shu, or Tibetan Stag” found in Cashmeer, and a figure of its horns (pl. 7). This is doubtless intended for C. casJ&meeriu?zus. In Jerdon’s ‘ Indian Mammals’ a short account is given of the Cashmeerian Deer under the name Cerwus wallichii, which term, however Dr. Jerdon subsequently allows, as I have stated above, to be more probably referable to the Cerwus ufinis. Dr. Jerdon also erroneously united the Yerbian Deer (Cerwus maral) with this species. In his article on the habits and haunts of various Indian Mammalia, published in the Society’s ‘ Proceedings ’ for 1858, Dr. A. Leith Adams has given a good account of the habits of this species under the name Cervus casAmeriensis. According to Dr. Adams, See Paleontological Memoirs and Notes of the late Hugh Falconer. Edited by Charles JIurchison, rol. i. p. 578 (1868). See the accompanying plate, J. A. S. B. 1-01. s. figs. 8 S: 9. LIVING IN THE SOCIETY’S MENAGERIE. 341

this Deer is abundant in the dense pine-forests of the Northern Pinjal, and in the valleys amongst these ranges. More recently still, Lieut. Kinloch has given us some interesting notes on the same animal, in his volume on the larger game-animals of Tibet and north-western India. On the 24th of November 1865 a fine young male of the Cashmeerian Deer was presented to the Society by Capt. M. H. S. Lloyd, of the 89th Regiment, being, as is believed, the only individual of this species ever received alive in Europe. The figure (Pl. XXX.) represents this animal as he appeared in November 1867, while the drawing now exhibited (fig. 5) will serve to show the present appearance of his head, which may be compared with the corresponding figure of Cervus maral (fig. 4).

Fig. 5.

Head of Ceruus cas7meeriunus.

Besides these two species, of which illustrations are given, the Society’s collection contains representatives of three other species of typical Cervus-na.mely, the Wapiti (C. canadensis), the Red Deer of Europe (C. elaphus), and the Barbary Deer of North Africa (C. barbarus). I will now add a few words concerning our present state of knowledge of the geogra- phical distribution of the Elaphine Deer, or species allied to Cervus elaphus. Of course, VOL. VII.-PART v. Janunry, 1871. 3A 342 MR. P. L. SCLATER ON CERTAIN SPECIES OF DEER geographical distribution cannot be properly worked out without a complete know- ledge of the species. This in the present case we are very far from having yet attained, most of the public museums of Europe (where only the larger Mammalia can be pre- served and studied) being miserably deficient in their series of these animals. But I believe I can make some little advance upon what has been hitherto known upon this subject. This section of the genus Ceruus is confined to the two principal regions of the earth’s surface, which I have called the PalEarctic and Nearctic regions, and is therefore one of a numerous series of natural groups which may be termed “ arctopolitan ”l. In the neotropical region only one species is found, namely the Wapiti (Cervus canadensis’). In the palzarctic region there would appear, according to our present state of knowledge, to be probably six species. These are :-

1. CERVUSELAPHCS, Linn. Of Europe and North-western Asia. The Russian natu- ralists Middendorff 3, Schrenck4, and Radde5, all agree in extending the range of Cervzcs etaphus into Amoorland and the extreme east of Siberia. But the species met with in the extreme east may be the next.

2. CERVUSXANTHOPYGUS, Alph. Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sc. Nat. 5 ser. Zool. viii. p. 376 ; Recherches Kist. Nat. Mamm. tab. xxi. Cermus from Pekin, allied to C. elaphus, Leadbeater, I?. Z. S. 1861, p. 368. The existence of a large Deer of the Elaphine group in the vicinity of Pekin became known in 1860, when, on the entry of the allies into the Summer Palace, herds of two species of Deer were found grazing in the parks. Heads of the larger animal, obtained by Lieut.401. Sarel, F.Z.S., were exhibited by Mr. Leadbeater before a meeting of this Society in November 1861 ; but the species was not considered to be certainly distinct from C. elaphus. Recently M. Fontanier has forwarded a skin of this animal to the Musbe d’Histoire Naturelle of Paris, and M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards has named it Cervus xanthopygus, stating that it differs from C. elaphus in the lengthened form of the head, the greyish colour of the fur, and the greater size of the anal disk. M.Alphonse Milne-Edwards will, no doubt, give us further particulars of this animal in the ‘ Recherches pour servir 5t 1’Hist. Nat. des MammifGres ’ now in course of publication, but at present has only issued the figure of it. As stated above, the geographical limits between this species and C. elaphus remain to be decided, likewise how far it is really distinct from the next species.

’ &pros,pars orbis borealis, et nohi-qs, ciuis. Hamilton Smith separated the western Wapiti as Ceruus occidentalis (Griffith’s A. R. iv. 101). But we have a fine male of this form in the collection from Oregon (received April 16, 1863), and I cannot see that it has any claims to specific distinction. Sibir. Reise, u. p. 120. Amur-rehe, Siug. p. 170. Reisen im Slid. v. Ost-Sibir., i. p. 284. LIVIXG IE THE SOCIETY’S MENAGEBIE. 343

3. CERVUS AFFINIS. Cervus wallichii, Cuv. Oss. Foss. (ed. 3) iv. p. 504; F. Cuv. Hist. Nat. Mamm. pl. 356; Puch. Arch. d. Mus. vi. p. 396; Blyth, J. A. S. B. x. p. 745, et xx. p. 174. -affinis, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. x. p. 721, et xvi. p. 689, et xix. pp. 466,518, et xx. p. 388; Jerdon, Ind. Mamm. p. 251. -tibetanus et C. elaphus, Hodgson, I have already given my reasons for considering Cuvier’s Cervus wallichii probably identical with the “ Shou or Tibetan Stag ” of Hodgson, usually called Cervus a$nis by Indian naturalists ; but as there is still a certain amount of uncertainty in the matter, it is perhaps better to retain Hodgson’s name for the species. It now, however, seems quite certain that Hodgson was deceived in stating that this animal ever occurs in the SiiI Forests of the Nepalese Terai. It is also probable that Mr. Blyth and other authorities who speak of it as a “Tibetan” animal have been equally mis- taken, the only certain locality for it yet known being the Choombi valley, near Sikim. This district, although politically belonging to Tibet, is on the south side of the Himalayas, and is drained by the Machoo river, which flows due south into the Burrampooter ‘.

4. CERVUSCASHMEERIARUS. (Cashmirian Deer.) As far as is certainly known, this

Dr. A. Campbell, late resident at Dajeeling, has kindly favoured me with the following reply to a request for information concerning Cervus a$inis :-

*‘ I took a great interest in the I Shou ’ at one time, and in 1862 I brought home a beautiful head and horns, and a pair of very large loose horns, but I have not got them now. The cause of my especial interest in the animal was this. The first notice of it was by Hodgson, I beliere, and was derived from a single horn picked up in the Nipu2 Tarui by Wallich’s plant-collector-such is my impression. This must have been about the Fear 1524. In 1839 I left Cathmandu to march through the Tarai to the Sikim frontier, two hundred miles. On starting, Hodgson gave me a sketch of the horns of the ‘ Shou,’ and asked me to make particular inquiry about it, and, if possible, to get him a skin, head, and horns complete. During my march I saw no end of all the known deer of the Tarai and lower hills, but could never fall in with any having two brow-antlers ; and whenever I showed my sketch of the horns to the Shikarees or Elephant-catchcrs, who knew the country and all its animals most intimately, they invariably told me that no such deer as that was ever seen in the Tarai.’ Two or three years later my official duties took me into the Bootnn Tumi, and I renewed my inquiries after this deer, but with the same resuIt. I now turned to the people at and about Darjeeling for informatioir about the animal, and learned that a large deer with double brow-antlers, called the ‘ Shou,’ was found in Choombi; and at last I procured its head and horns, and skins of the male and female. The point of interest, therefore, about the Shou ’ or Tibetan Stag ’ is, that its habitat is not 6 Thibet ’ at all ; arid indeed this might have been inferred from the absence, which I believe to be the case, of all other deer from the fauna of that country. “ The ‘ Shou ’ is an animal found in the valley of ‘ Choombi,’ which, although politically belonging to Thibet, is in its physical aspect totally different from Thibet. It ie well wooded, well watered, and fertile. Thibet proper is destitute of wood, bare, and mostly barren. It is in the woods surrounding the valley of ‘ Choombi ’ that the ‘Shou’ finds its genial shade and pasture. Choombi lies between the Chola Pass of the Sikim Himalayas and Phari, on the frontier of Thibet proper. See Hooker’s ‘ Himalayan Journals,’ vol. ii. p. 110.” 3~2 344 MR. P. L. SCLATER OS CEBTAIN SPECIES OF DEER

Deer is only found in Cashmeer ; but Hodgson’s Cervus r)zariyanus (J A. S. B. xx. p. 393, pl. S), said to be from Gnari or Western Tibet, may be the same animal.

5. CERVUSMARAL. (Persian Deer.) Inhabits the Caucasus, and thence ranges into Armenia and Northern Persia.

6. CERVUSBARBARUS. (Barbary Deer.) This is the representative of the Red Deer in the Atlas a,nd adjoining districts, which, as is now well known, are still zoologically, as they were in former days territorially, part of Europe.

4. CERVUSMANTCHURICUS. (Plates XXXI., XXXII.) Cervus wallichii, Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1861, p. 134. -- pseudaxis, Gray, P. Z. 5. 1861, p. 236, t. xxvii. -hortulorum et C. mantchuricus, Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 169, et 1865, p. 1. -- mantchuricus, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 721, 1865, p. 1 ; List of Vert. ed. 3, p. 27, ed. 4, p. 47 ; ZOO~.Sketches, ii. tab. xiii. Next to the typical Cervi comes a small group of deer confined to China and Japan, which are undoubtedly closely allied to the Elaphine series, but are distinguishable by their inferior size, the distinct spotting of the summer dress, and the invariable want of the brow-antler. Of all of these we have living examples in the Society’s collection ; and two out of the three have bred with us. They are chiefly distinguishable inter se by their size, the present species being the largest of the three. The Mantchurian Deer, like the Cervus xanthopygus, was first discovered when the English and French forces entered the parks of the Summer Palace, near Pekin, in October 1860. Mr. Swinhoe obtained from Lieut.-Col. Sarel three skins of this animal (procured on this occasion), and forwarded them to this Society’, by whom they were presented to the British Museum. Mr. Swinhoe at first thought that this deer, as well as the larger deer procured at the same time (which afterwards turned out to be Cervus xan,thopygus), might be referable to Cervus wallichii. Dr. Gray subsequently communi- cated to the Society a notice of these specimens, but referred them to Cervusyseudaxis2, under which name also he has given a good figure of what Mr. Swinhoe regards as a

“ tmo-year-old buck,” but which is probably a somewhat older animal. This specimen is now in the gallery of the British Museum, and is. I have no doubt, identical with our living Cervus mantchuricus. In 1864 Mr. Swinhoe having had another opportunity of examining heads of the larger deer of the Summer Palace (Cervus xunthopygus),convinced himself that they were quite distinct from the smaller species which Dr. Gray had determined as C. pseudaxis. Mr. Swinhoe was likewise of opinion that the smaller species could not be the true Cervus pseudnxis, and proposed the new name ~ortzc~oru~for it’. In the same letter Mr. See Mr. Swinhoe’s letter, P. Z. S. 1861, p. 134. P. Z. 8. 1861, p. 236. See Mr. Swinboe’s letter, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 168. LIVIKG IN THE SOCIETY’S MER’AGERIE. 345

Swinhoe announced that he had forwarded to the Society a “ Mantchurian Deer, appa- rently of a new species, procured at New-chwang,” and gave a short description of it under the name Cervus mantchuricus. It appears, therefore, that Mr. Swinhoe unwit- tingly gave this deer two new names in the same letter. Mr. Swinhoe’s typical specimen of Cervus mantchuricus reached this country in safety in July 1864l, and has since remained with us in good health, though unfortunately we have never succeeded in getting a mate for him. Plate XXXI. represents this individual in his summer dress, which stage has also been described by Mr. Swinhoe (P. Z. S. 1865, pp. 1, 2) from a specimen examined at Amoy in October 1864. Plate XXXII. represents the same individual in the more soberly coloured dress of winter, when the spots are barely visible at all, except just on the back, above the shoulders.

5. CERVUSTAEVANUS. (Plates XXXIII., XXXIV.) Cervus taiouanus, Blytb, J. A. S. B. xxix. p. YO. -tu&anus, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1860, p. 376, 1862, p. 152, tab. xvi., 1866, p. 80 ; Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 362; Sclater, Zool. Sketches, ii. tab. xiv.; Sclater, List of Vert. ed. 1, p. 11, ed. 2, p. 15, ed. 3, p. 27, ed. 4, p. 47. The Formosan Deer was one of Mr. Swinhoe’s numerous zoological discoveries in the little-known Chinese island to which it is confined. In 1860 Mr. Swinhoe forwarded a skull of this animal to Mr. Blyth at Calcutta, who described it as C‘. taiouanus, after the Chinese name of Formosa. In December 1861 we received from Mr. Swinhoe a fine living male example of this deer, of which animal I gave a notice and figures in the

L Proceedings ’ for 1862 (p. 150, pl. xvi.). In 1866 we received through Mr. Swinhoe our first female of this species; and in 1868 (July 21) the first fawn was born, which is represented with its mother in Plate XXXIV. as it appeared in November of that year. This Deer, however, has not done nearly so well with us as the following species, C. sika. Mr. Swinhoe has given some details respecting the habits of this Deer in his article on Formosan Mammals published in the Society ‘ Proceedings ’ for 1862 (p. 362). I think it probable that the Cervus pseuduxis of Eydoux and Souleyet (Voy. Bonite, Zool. p. 64, pl. 3), established upon a living animal obtained by these naturalists in Java and brought to the Jardin des Plantes in 1838, was of this species ; and if this be case, the name pseudaxis has priority over taevanus. M. Pucheran informs us2 that another individual of this species was obtained by the expedition of the ‘ Astrolabe ’ and ‘ Zel6e ’ at the Sooloo Islands ; but this, as well as the former example, may have been carried away in ships from their native land.

See notices of its arrival, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 721, and 1865, p. 1. * Arch. d. Mus. vi. p. 439. 346 MR. P. 11. SCLATER ON CERTAIN SPECIES OF DEER

6. CERVUSSIKA. (Plate XXXV.) Cervzls sika, Temm. et Schl. Jap. Mamm. p. 54, tab. 17; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1860, p. 377; Sclater, Zool. Sketches, ii. tab. xv. ; List of Vert. ed. 1, p. 12, ed. 2, p. 15, ed. 3, p. 27, ed. 4, p. 47. Rusajaponica, Gray, Ann. N. H. ser. 3, p. 218; P. Z. S. 1861, p. 236. Our first pair of Japanese Deer were received in July 1860, having been obtained at Kanagawa, and presented to the Society by Mr. J. Wilks. In 1861 we purchased a second female of the same species. From these three individuals has descended a numerous progeny, as the following list will show :-

List qjJapanese Deer which have lived in the Society’s Gardens.

a. Male ...... Presented by J. Wilks, Esq...... July 21, 1860.

b. Female...... 3, 9, c. Female ...... Purchast*d ...... d. Female ...... Born in the Menagerie ...... September 5, 1862.

e. Female ...... ,, 9) ...... -4ugust 2, 1863. f. -...... 71 77 ...... July 8,1864. 9- -...... 7 9, ...... June 8, 1865.

h. -...... 9 77 ...... June 26,1865.

a. -...... 7f ...... June 3,1866.

j. ~ ...... ,, 73 ...... July 8,1866. k. Male...... 77 9, ...... June 8,1867.

1. Male...... 37 7, ...... July 16,1867.

7n. -...... 7, 7...... June 13,1868. It. -...... ,, ...... August 5, 1868.

0. Male...... ,, 9, ...... June 14, 1869.

p. Malc ...... 9, 77 ...... June 25, 1869.

Most of the larger zoological gardens on the Continent have also living specimens of this beautiful deer, which seems in every way qualified to become a permanent denizen of our parks. It is extremely hardy, breeds well, and requires qery little care and attention. The figure of Cervus sika in the ‘Fauna Japonica’ appears to be intended for this animal in its winter dress, in which the spotting is almost obsolete, although in our animals it never quite disappears. The accompanying Plate (XXXV.) represents this deer in its summer dress. The figure in the ‘ Fauna Japonica ’ is also incorrect in I1ot showing the conspicuous white of the anal region, which is nearly as evident in winter as in summer.

7. CERVUSDUVAUCELLI. (Plate XXXVI.) Cemrus duvaucelli, Cuv. Oss. Foss. (3 ed.) iv. p. 505. - bahraiya, Hodgson, P. Z. S. 1834, p. 99 (descr. nulla). LIVING IN THE SOCIETP’S MENAGERIE. 347

Cervus elaphoides, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. iv. p. 648 (1835), et P. Z. S. 1836, p. 47. Rucervus elaphoides vel duvaucelli, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. xvi. p. 689. Cervus euceros, Gray, Knowsley Menag. pls. 40 & 41. Rucervus duvaucellii, Gray, Knowsley Menag. p. 61 ; Cat. of Ung. Furc. p. 213 ; Jerdon, Mamm. of India, p. 254. Cuvier established his Cervus duvaucelli in the second edition of his ‘ Ossemens Fossiles,’ upon three antlers sent to the Paris Museum by Duvaucel from ‘‘ the Indies.” The exact locality where these were procured is not stated ; but the species thus indi- cated has hitherto by general consent been considered to be the same as the Bengalese animal subsequently named by Hodgson Cervus bahraiya and C. elaphoides 1. The first individual of this Deer received in the Society’s Gardens was a female acquired at the sale of the late Lord Derby’s collection at Knowsley in 1851. In 1557 a young male was presented to the Society by the Babii Rajendra Mullick, of Calcutta. The pair bred in 1858 ; and the female produced a fawn on the 23rd of August of that year. The same pair and their descendants bred again in 1860 and subsequent years, as will be seen by the following list :-

List of Barasingha Deer in the Society’s Gardens.

R. Male...... Purchased at Xnowsley sale...... October 26, 1851. h. Female ...... Presented by the Babu Rajendra Mullick . . July 14, 1857. c. Female ...... Born in the Menagerie ...... July 17, 1858.

d. Female ...... j? 1, ...... July24, 18t30.

e. Female...... 1, ?7 ...... August 19, 1860. f. Nale...... 1, 11 ...... August 26, 1861. g. Female...... Deposited ...... December 5, 1863. h. Male...... Born in the Menagerie ...... June 30, 1864.

At the present time, however, I regret to say that our stock of this Deer has been reduced by a series of accidents to a single female (c of list). The winter coat of this Deer is of a dullish brown, which, however, changes in summer into a brilliant golden yellow, glossed over in the male with purplish black in front. The summer dress of both sexes is shown in the plate (Pl. XXXVI.). In a state of nature the “Barasingha,” as this Deer has been usually termed in this country, is a water-loving species. It is found in the reedy marshes and islands border- ing the large rivers of Bengal, extending eastwards into Assam (where it is said to be very abundant in the islands of the Burrampooter), and westwards into the great forest- tract of Central India.

Cf. Pucheran, Arch. d. MUS. d’H. N. vi. p. 375. But Profcssor Milne-Edwards has informed me that he is doubtful of the correctness of this identification. If these doubts are well founded, the present species must bear the name elriphoides. But I do not know any other described species to which the horns as figured by Cuvier (1. c. pl. 39. figs. 6, 7 & 8) could be referred. 348 AIR. P. L. SCLATER OX CERTAIN SPECIES OF DEER

8. CERVUSELDI. (Plates XXXVII. & XXXVIII.)

“Nondescript Deer,” McClelland, Calc. J. N. H. i. p. 501 j Eld, ibid. ii. p. 415. Cervus eldi, auct. anon. Calcutta Journal N. H. ii. p. 417 (1842); Beavan, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 759; Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1869, p. 6. - (Rusa) frontalis, McClelland, ibid. iii. p. 401, tt. xiii. et xiv. Panolia eldii, Gray, Cat. of Ung. Furc. p. 202. -eadii, Gray, Knowsl. Men. p. 61. -acuticornis et P. platyceros, Gray, List of Mamm. B. M. pp. 180,181,118 ; Horsf. Cat. Mamm. p. 187. Cervus dimorphe, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. xii. pt. 2, p. 897 (1844); Ann. N. H. xiv. p. 74. Rusa dimorphe, Gray, Knowsl. Men. p. 62 ; List of Ung. Furc. p. 209.

This Deer was first discovered in the valley of Munipore in 1838 by Lieut. Eld ; and its horns having been sent to Dr. M‘Clelland, were described by him in the first volume of the ‘Calcutta Journal of Natural History.’ In the second volume of the same journal will be found a full notice of the habits and localities of the animal by Lieut. Eld, to which is appended a suggestion (communicated to the Editor by the corre- spondent who forwarded Lieut. Eld’s paper) that it should be called Cervits eldi. The Editor, however, thinks this suggestion ‘‘ premature,” and in the third volume of the same journal describes the animal as Cervus frotitalis. Under these circnmstances it is somewhat difficult to decide what should be its proper appellation. The term “ eldi ” was the first published ; but we do not know who is the authority for it. Dr. M‘Clel- land, the Editor of the Journal, who used it, clearly repudiated it subsequently in favour of his own name “frontalis.” On the whole, however, it seems most just to retain the name ‘‘ eldi,” it being absolutely the first published specific appellation for this Deer. Lieut. Beavan has lately contributed to the Society’s Proceedings (1867, p. 759) a very complete account of the habits and range of this Deer ; and Mr. Swinhoe has recorded its occurrence in Hainan. It is probably found all through the Burmese countries in suitable localities-that is, in the low watery swamps and jungles that border the large rivers of those countries. It now seems to be generally agreed that Hodgson’s Cervus dimorpr’le, of which the type is in the British Museum, is a young male Cervus eldi ; but if so, he was probably deceived as to the locality of his specimen, which he gives as the SB1 forest of the Nepalese Morung Our first and only specimen of this Deer was a young male presented to the Society by Mr. Grote, and brought home to England by Mr. C. Bartlett, along with a collection of other Indian animals, in August 1867. Mr. Grote had received it .when quite a fawn fiom Col. Phayre, the Governor of British Burmah. The principal figure in P1. XXXVII. represents this individual as he appeared when commencing to grow his

Cf. Jerdon, MIamm. of Ind. p. 256, and Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1869, p GS. LIVIXG IS THE SOCIETY’S MERTL4BEltIE. 349 new horns in the autumn of 1867, from a sketch of Mr. Wolf; the hinder figures have been added to show the form of the perfect horns in the adult and semiadult males. Plate XXXVIII. represents the same individual in his winter dress in 1868. We unfortunately lost him just as he was acquiring his new horns. Allied to the present species, arid still more to Cervus duvnucelli, is C. schowburgki from Siam, characterized by Mr. Blyth in the Society’s Proceedings for 18G3, p. 155, and l%i,p. 835. I believe all three will be ultimately found to belong to the same sub- generic group, The Jardin des Plantes of Paris now contains a living example of a Cemrs schomburgki ; so that we may shortly expect a full description of the animal, of which the horns only were known to Mr. 13lyth.

9. CERVUSSRINHOII. (Plate XXXIX.) (,’rrcus szoinhoii, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 152, pl. xvii. ; 1867, 1’. 818; Sclater, Zool. Sketches, ii. tab. wii.; Swinhoe, P. Z. d. 1862, p. 364. In a letter received from hlr. Swinhoe in the spring of 1852 the existence of n second species of Deer in Formosa, called the “ Cheearig.” was first mentioned ; and

Fig. (i.

Read of Cemts su~ir2koii. shortly afterwards two bucks of this species were procured alive and forwarded to the Societj-. One of these reached us in safety on the 28th of April of that year, and VOL. VII.-PART v. January, 1871. 3B 350 MR. P. L. SCLATER ON CEBTAIN SPECIES OF DEER turned out to be a species of the Rusine group, which I subsequently described in the Society's ' Proceedings,' and proposed to call Cervus szuinhoii after its discoverer. The figure given along with the description (P. Z. S. 1882, pl. xvii.) represents this indi- vidual shortly after its arrival, when its young horns were growing. The accompanying Plate, copied from a sketch by Mr. Wolf (Pl. XXXIX.), shows the adult forin of the animal. In September 1862 we received a second young male of this Deer, and in September 1867 a third example, which, at the moment, we believed to be a female and was so entered in the register 1. This, however, was subsequently discovered to be unfortu- nately an error, its the individual turned out to be a young male, which has since developed horns, and is still living in the Gardens. Mr. Swinhoe has given us an account of the habits of this Deer in a state of nature in his article on Formosan Mammals (P. Z. 9. 1862, p. 364). As regards the affinities of this species, it is unquestionably nearly allied to the

Cei ,*vusepuinus of' Sumatra and Borneo (cf. Rliiller, Verh. Zool. p. 212, tab. 42); and I ao not pretend to be able to point out the differences between these two Deer, as we Sce P. Z. S. 1867, Appendis, p. 1046. LlVIXG 1s THE SOCIETY’S MENAGERIE. 351 have never had adult specimens of the latterL. But the Formosan form of Rusa is certainly, in my opinion, quite distinct from the true Sambur of continental India (C. aristofelis)which Mr. Blyth now seeks to unite with C. epuinus2. The true Sambur is a larger and more lightly and uniformly coloured animal, and attains much larger and better developed horns than C. swiiahoii, which is further remarkable for the rufous colour of its hinder quarters and its black and very thick and bushy tail. I exhibit some drawings of the head of a young male Sambur (C. aristotelis) now in our Gardens (figs. 7 & 8) (where he was born May 31,1866), one of which shows the deve- lopment of horns attained by this species even when four years old. The extended suborbital sinus, which in all Rusine Deer is very large, is well shown in the figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.

PLATE XXVIII. Ceruus dauidiccnus, male and female, from the pair presented by Sir Rutherford Xlcock, C.M.Z.S., taken shortly after their arrival, August 2nd, 1869. Height at shoulders 3 ft. 10 in. PLATE XXIX. Cervus maral, adult male and female, in winter dress, and fawn, copied from an original water-colour drawing by Wolf, composed from animals living in the Society’s Gardens. Height at shoulders 4 ft. 6 in.

PLATE XXX. Ceruits ~~i~hi~zeeriaizt~s,adult male, taken in Sovember 1867. Height at shouldcrs 4 ft. 5 in. PLATE XXXI. Cerviis ?nantchu,ricus,in summer dress, from an original water-colour drawing by Wolf’, prepared from the typical example in the Society’s Gardens. Height at shoulders 3 ft. 8 in. PLATE XXXII. Cerwzcs mantchuricus, in winter dress, taken from the same individual in April lSGS. Cf. Sminhoe, P. Z. S. 1869, p, 659. See Jerdon, Ind. biamm. p. 260, and P. Z. 8. 1869: p. 668. 352 ON CERFAIN SPECIES OF DEER IK THE 8OClETY’S MESAGERZE.

P1,ATE XXXIII. (=Eruust&umz[s, adult male, in summer dress, from an original water-colour drawing by Wolf. Height at shoulders 2 ft. 11 in.

PLATE XXXIV. (‘cru~~fm3mius, female and young, from animals in the Society’s Gardens in Noveniber 186’7. PLATE XXXV. (‘eruzts sikn, male and female, in summer dress, from an original water-colour drawing by Wolf. Height at shoulders 2ft. Sin.

PLATE XXXVI. C‘cruris duuaucelli, male and female, in summer dress, from an original water-colour sketch by Wolf. Height at shoulders 3 ft. 11 in.

PLATE XXXVII. Cervus el&, in sumniei- dress, from an original water-colour drawing by Wolf. ’l’he full figure represents the individual received August 6th, 1867, with the new horns just growing.

PLATE XXXVIII. Cervus el&, in winter dress, from the same individual.

PLATE XXXIX. (‘eruus ~oinhoii,in winter dress, from an original water-colour by Wolf. Height at shoulders 3 ft. 11 in.